# Gemma 2 27B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 29.4 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-2-27b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 2 27B scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.6 to 10.7.
- Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $0.65 / $0.65 for Gemma 2 27B.
- Step 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 8K.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 29.4 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 312 | 116 |
| Context | 8K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.65 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $0.65 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 2 27B: 34.1 (#246)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1211 | 1436 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 42.8% | — |
| LiveBench Coding | 36% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 52.5% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 2 27B: 15.3 (#315)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1198 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 28.1% | — |
| DTBench | 48% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 47.9% | — |
| LMCA | 7.1% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 122.08 | — |
| LiveBench | 38.2% | — |

## Math

- Gemma 2 27B: 10.7 (#311)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1212 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 1.4% | — |
| LiveBench Math | 26.5% | — |
| MATH Level 5 | 27.9% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 2 27B: 19.0 (#280)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1172 | 1421 |
| GPQA Diamond | 36.5% | — |
| Confabulations | 27.1% | — |
| MMLU | 75.7% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 2 27B: 38.6 (#226)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1217 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1221 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1247 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1209 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1175 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1174 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1234 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1228 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 2 27B: 60.5 (#249)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1206 | 1385 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 58.1% | — |

## Long Context

- Gemma 2 27B: 37.3 (#218)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1231 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 2 27B: 44.2 (#225)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1231 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1241 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1224 | 1405 |
| LiveBench Language | 32.6% | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 2 27B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 29.4 on the Noometry Index.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 2 27B or Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.30 per million output tokens; Gemma 2 27B lists at $0.65 and $0.65.

### Is Gemma 2 27B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 34.1 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Step 3.5 Flash does, with 256K tokens against 8K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 2 27B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 2 27B has 34 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.